Drivers

First Arrests In Philadelphia Truck Crackdowns

In the latest of a series of surprise truck inspection blitzes in the Philadelphia area, authorities for the first time arrested truckers.

For about five hours Tuesday, state and local authorities pulled trucks off I-95 near the Philadelphia International Airport for inspections, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer. It was the fifth time since November that surprise truck inspections were performed on I-95 or I-76/Schuylkill Expressway.Out of the 23 trucks stopped for inspections, three were put out of service. One, hauling junk cars, was seized because the owner, Allegheny Iron & Metal Co. of Philadelphia, had $17,000 in outstanding traffic fines. In a first in the crackdown, two drivers were arrested and charged with scofflaw violations for not paying traffic tickets. Hueland Walden, a 65-year-old truck driver from Darby, PA, owed nearly $500 in fines for moving violations. He was put in handcuffs and led into a Philadelphia Traffic Court van to be arraigned in Center City.